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A $90 million condominium tower being built in downtown Milwaukee will offer the city's most expensive condos.
The University Club Tower, sporting luxury condos with price tags greater than $1 million, will overlook the Santiago Calatrava-designed addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Lake Michigan shoreline.
John Feller, senior project manager for general contractor J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. in Milwaukee, said the building will house 38 floors of residential space with mechanical penthouse and will contain 57 units. First occupancy is slated for late August 2006.
The units, two per floor with elevators that open directly into each unit, range from 2,984 sq. ft. to 4,043 sq. ft. Some buyers have opted to purchase an entire floor. By late summer, 44 of the units had been sold.
Ground was broken in late October 2004.
Dealing with Foundry Residue
"We had some unexpected poor soil conditions that set us back nearly 12 weeks to redesign the caisson system," Feller said. The soil consisted of loose clay and some ash from foundries from long ago.
"We originally had a belt caisson system that had to be changed to a straight-shaft system, and we went from 70 ft. deep to over 90 ft. in the change," Feller added.
Also impacting the job from the start was the site's size.
"This is a postage-stamp site," Feller said. Formerly a surface parking lot for the University Club, a social club on East Wells Street, the site is wedged between existing buildings and a major city street. The project team includes Milwaukee-based Mandel Group Inc. as the developer and Chicago-based Skidmore Owings and Merrill LLC as the architect.
Some services the the club provides will be available to tower residents. For example, residents can order meals and use some of its services.
To keep the University Club open, a parking structure was erected before the existing surface lot was taken out of commission. Although the structure took up the little bit of excess space on the site, now that it is completed, its roof will provide some staging and storage space.
Until the garage was completed, crews had only 100 to 120 ft. on Prospect Avenue to stage the entire job.
With barely enough room on the site for one tower crane, Findorff had to think carefully to pour the building's floors.
The solution was found in the use of a Peri Automatic Climbing System, or self-climbing, retractable formwork. Rather than using jump forms that have to be moved from one floor to another by crane, this German-made system moves itself, formwork and all, from floor to floor as the building rises.
Pointing out that the ACS reduced the work load of the tower crane significantly; Feller said he believes this is the first time such a system has been used in Wisconsin.
Fitting In
The exterior of the tower, which will be distinctive for its height and for the glass crown that tops it, is designed to fit in with the other structures in the neighborhood.
The building's skin will be glittering white, complimenting the white-winged Calatrava structure it overlooks and the stately Cudahy Tower residential building to the south. Built in 1909 and 1929, Cudahy is constructed of marble, glazed brick and terra cotta - all gleaming white.
"The really impressive thing about this building [University Club Tower] is going to be the exterior precast," Feller said. "The buyers upgraded to a really white cement."
It is not just white cement; it is custom mixed and sparkling white.
"We are using granite sand instead of limestone or local aggregates," said Teri Bisswurm, vice president of business development for Germantown-based International Concrete Products, the company providing the precast panels.
Comparing the specifics in the mix to a secret family recipe, she declined to divulge where the granite sand was found, although she said that two different granites were used in the mix.
Using granite sand in precast is not commonplace, Bisswurm said. "The granites in the sand will sparkle," she added. "When the sun shines, you will see all kinds of glistening from the very fine crushed granite.
"We get in aggregates from all over the country and we do a lot of samples. We make up 12- by 12-in. samples and then get feedback on them from the architects on what they are looking for."
Once the architect approved the mix, a 4- by 4-ft. piece was made for approval. When the actual panels for the building went into production, the first was approved by the architect before the rest were produced.
"One of the key things in precast is making sure the panels are consistent from panel to panel in color," Bisswurm said.
Amenities
The building's amenities include expansive views of the city skyline, security features, a cooled room for grocery transport, 325-sq.-ft. terraces and 17,000-sq.-ft. private garden.
There also will be 24-hour doormen and building staff, valet parking, carwash and dog-walking services.
Part of the appeal for buyers, and a complication for Findorff, is the fact that the condos can be customized.
"Right now the biggest challenge is to keep everyone on schedule with their plans and shopping," Feller said. Some buyers are using their own architects for the interior designs.
Another coordination issue involves the cabinetry for the condo pantries, which is coming from Italy. Feller said he is looking at a 20-week lead time in getting the millwork and casework onsite.
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